Picky eaters ...

[Saluki]

My younger sister is a randomly picky eater. When we were kids she would have Mum running about to the kitchen and back (she is a lot younger than me). I would eat whatever was put in front of me. My Mum used to be a "shut up and eat it" sort of Mum. When she had Jo she would pander to her every whim.

One day Jo would eat lettuce, the next she wouldn't, same with pototos and other vegetables. She went through a phase of only eating orange food, which I believe is quite common in kids but Jo was about 14 when she went through her orange phase.
I never used to invite her round as she would make such a fuss and whinge and moan through the meal. She made a massive fuss at our wedding becuase the soup was lumpy. Veg soup tends to be, its the vegetables in there that does it. We were mortified. Dad tried to shush her but she would not be shushed. Then she moaned like hell about the chicken in the main course saying she was a vegetarian and that we were trying to kill her. She must have become a vegetarian that very morning as she had McDonalds the night before. She didn't ruin our day as all the relatives were fed up with her pickyness and put it down to her being a spoiled brat. She went out, in the end, and got some chips.

Apparently now she only eats beetroot sandwiches. Her children are really picky eaters. Her ex husband says that he has a hell of a job feeding them. Their son will only eat fishfingers and beans at the moment - must be his orange phase. Their daughter is a nightmare with food too. Like Jo, will eat something one day and then not the next. Apparently she went off toast and refused to eat it saying that toast is bitter!

I don't believe she has an eating disorder, I think that she is attention seeking. She's nearly 40 now and I lost patience with her years ago. The constant food drama wears you down.

I don't eat lamb or beef as I don't like the taste. Never have but apart from that, I will eat pretty much anything, including celary I have sympathy for people with genuine eating disorders and/or allergies. It cannot be very pleasant and must be difficult when going out for meals or with friends.

 

[steve52]

i have two rules about food, 1 if it dosent move eat it 2 if it moves eat it just in case, i dont mind picky eaters it leaves move for me, and if im cooking they can eat what i supply or leave it no worrys, but i would not bother pandering to there whims,

 

[subaqua]

I'm going to annoy a few people now with my smugness. I've got a 7yr old boy who goes mad for octopus, rabbit, mussels, mackerel (in fact most if not all sea food), blue cheese, sprouts, home made curries, mushrooms, RARE steak, garlic - the list goes on. The only things he doesn't really like are cauliflower and soup, because he doesn't see the point of them. Why is he like this? We recon it's because he has always eaten what we have, and has always been encouraged to try stuff, even if myself or my wife don't like it.

snap. our eldest always asks for more sprouts at christmas, which reminds me must put them on soon otherwise they won't have even started to cook properly

she isn't keen on spicy stuff so we stir in a spoon of natural yogurt to take the heat out of spicy stuff. the spoon has gotten smaller over the years

 

[MontyVeda]

on 03 September 2011 - 21:10:14, said:

I am now firmly of the opinion that most faddy food behaviour is just attention seeking.

Such an uneducated post

Personally I feel there's an element of truth in the 'attention seeking' theory.

The girl with the supposed lettuce allergy for instance... what was that if not attention seeking?


edit...

I got myself in to trouble a couple of years ago when talking to a friends sister who just loves talking about 'her illness', which is basically a few minor food allergies which makes her apathetic or some other non event of a symptom... after her monologue about 'how hard it is' I said "Oh I get that, no matter what I eat it just goes brown and falls out of my bottom!" ... It was funny when i heard it on R4, she didn't think so

 

[Arch]

I don't believe she has an eating disorder, I think that she is attention seeking. She's nearly 40 now and I lost patience with her years ago. The constant food drama wears you down.

I don't eat lamb or beef as I don't like the taste. Never have but apart from that, I will eat pretty much anything, including celary I have sympathy for people with genuine eating disorders and/or allergies. It cannot be very pleasant and must be difficult when going out for meals or with friends.

I don't know much about eating disorders, but if they are psychological, as they seem to be to me, then I can see how something could be 'attention seeking', and still a disorder. Stuff can start as a seemingly minor issue, and become hugely magnified. Time was, no doubt, a lot of people would see depression as attention seeking.

Yes, I've no doubt there are people who revel in being awkward*, but I'm sure there are many who would much rather be 'normal' and just don't know how. If your sister is still the same after 40 years, that would suggest she's dug herself into a hole she can't get out of. What might start as attention seeking, might become something deeper.

*Slightly OT: I had two colleagues at Uni, who walked with sticks. One made a great fuss about everything, claimed discrimination all over the place, generally got people's backs up. The other simply got on with life, smiled all the time and was generally huge fun to be with. We all tended to belittle the problems of the moany one (which were just as real), just because she was a pain, which was unfair, but somehow we justified it to ourselves. Awkwardness can sometimes be in the eye of the beholder.

 

[byegad]

My younger son and his partner started right with my Grandson, now 18 months. After weaning him from a milk only diet he got anything they were eating, at first puréed and then minced. Now he loves curry, Sunday dinner, all kinds of vegetables and fruit. His latest is Chinese food prepared by his dad.

 

[Ellis456]

By dad grew up with nothing and when had food whatever it was bread and drippings etc etc he ate it!, that or die!, I was taught to eat or get nothing!, or go hungry and that your last meal could be indeed your last meal!.




I hate these people to. I ask these people "if your where dieing of starvation and the said food they dislike was the only food available would you eat it?. They normally reply NO, so you would die? LMAO.

 

[Arch]

By dad grew up with nothing and when had food whatever it was bread and drippings etc etc he ate it!, that or die!, I was taught to eat or get nothing!, or go hungry and that your last meal could be indeed your last meal!.




I hate these people to. I ask these people "if your where dieing of starvation and the said food they dislike was the only food available would you eat it?. They normally reply NO, so you would die? LMAO.

Hate's a very strong word. What's the problem? Ignore them if it means so much to you.

I can get terribly pedantic about spelling, on the other hand.

 

[al78]

By dad grew up with nothing and when had food whatever it was bread and drippings etc etc he ate it!, that or die!, I was taught to eat or get nothing!, or go hungry and that your last meal could be indeed your last meal!.




I hate these people to. I ask these people "if your where dieing of starvation and the said food they dislike was the only food available would you eat it?. They normally reply NO, so you would die? LMAO.

Just because people would be FORCED to do something in EXTREME circumstances does not necessarily mean they should be equally FORCED to do something under NORMAL EVERYDAY conditions.

 

[Holdsworth]

I used to be rather fussy about some foods when I was younger. For example I would no eat peppers, mushrooms, Brussels sprouts, offal or fish of any kind. I have now become a bit more tolerant after trying these foods and getting over my dislike of them. I can still be a bit picky over seafood but I am slowly trying to overcome the general smell and taste of the more "exotic" kinds (i.e. anything other than fish and chips). Sweetcorn is one thing that I can sometimes eat but the smell of fresh from the tin makes me still gag a little so I avoid if possible but I'll eat it if it is on a plate in front of me. I have pleased myself a little by successfully eating a plate of liver and a steak & kidney pie, I might try it again if I get the opportunity.

 

[subaqua]

there is only one food i will not eat. fish pie. it looks like dog sick . however you dress it up its still disgusting.



anything else i will eat. some things i don't particularly rave over but i will eat it. sweetcorn is one. tinned or fresh, but if its put on a plate and put in front of me i will eat it.

 

[Seigi]

I used to be quite fussy when I was younger but now I'll eat almost anything that's put in front of me (so long as it doesn't contain egg, have an allergy to that), I'm always up for trying new things. I used to squirm at the sign of vegetables on my plate whether on the side or mixed in but I've come to realise that the vegetables actually add flavour and texture to the dish, my OH on the other hand is fussy, not as fussy as she used to be but still fussy, it seems more stubbornness-fussy though, I have noticed that since being with me she has became better and more susceptible to trying new things.

 

[Trembler49]

i have two rules about food, 1 if it dosent move eat it 2 if it moves eat it just in case, i dont mind picky eaters it leaves move for me, and if im cooking they can eat what i supply or leave it no worrys, but i would not bother pandering to there whims,

Given your tastes, excuse me if I don't enthusiastically eat whatever you put in front of me. Evolution has come a bit, I am not sure I am still a a hunter gatherer.

 

[pepecat]

I don't like sprouts. I'm sorry, but they are just gross.
Olives are not my favourite thing either.
Apart from that, I CAN eat, but generally choose not to eat celery, rhubarb, peaches, apricots, nectarines. It's more the texture of these things than the flavour. Stringy and furry food is not good!

 

[swee'pea99]

I don't like sprouts. I'm sorry, but they are just gross.
Olives are not my favourite thing either.
Apart from that, I CAN eat, but generally choose not to eat celery, rhubarb, peaches, apricots, nectarines. It's more the texture of these things than the flavour. Stringy and furry food is not good!

No-one likes sprouts. How they became a Christmas dinner fixture is one of God's mysteries that surpasseth all understanding.